Martin Bashir announces resignation from MSNBC days after apologizing for Palin remark

MSNBC host Martin Bashir announced on Wednesday that he had resigned from the network.

Earlier this month, MSNBC host Martin Bashir had blasted Palin after a speech in Iowa, where she had said that borrowing money from China was “going to be like slavery when that note is due.”

Bashir read remarks from the diary from notorious slaveholder Thomas Thistlewood, who allegedly forced slaves to eat human feces. He said that if anyone was deserving of such punishment, it was Palin.

The MSNBC host later apologized, insisting that he had “brought shame upon my friends and colleagues at this network.”

But in an email obtained by Mediaite on Wednesday, Bashir said that he had decided to resign.

"Upon further reflection, and after meeting with the President of MSNBC, I have tendered my resignation. It is my sincere hope that all of my colleagues, at this special network, will be allowed to focus on the issues that matter without the distraction of myself or my ill-judged comments," Bashir wrote. "I deeply regret what was said, will endeavor to work hard at making constructive contributions in the future and will always have a deep appreciation for our viewers – who are the smartest, most compassionate and discerning of all television audiences."

"I would also wish to express deepest gratitude to my immediate colleagues, and our contributors, all of whom have given so much of themselves to our broadcast."

For her part, Palin has said that she accepted Bashir apology and thanked God for giving a platform to speak out on Fox News.

“I move on and I charge forth,” she told Fox News host Chris Wallace late last month. “However, if Mr. Bashir or anybody else in this media elite bubble that they put themselves were to attack someone who is defenseless like a vulnerable child who does not have the podium, that microphone that God has blessed me to be able to express my opinion, if they don’t have that type of platform to defend themselves, well, if you want to see a mama grizzly get riled up and slap that person down then you come after a vulnerable child.”

“As for the apologies, well obviously, you know, who am I not to accept an apology? Everyone must humble themselves and accept that offer to — of apology.”